*Written by* A. Kusi-Appiah, 2019 QE Scholar, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
What a beautiful world!
The city of Mzuzu is the way I fantasized it to be; friendly, friendly, friendly and many more ‘tins (lol).
I started the day (my first full day in Mzuzu, Malawi) with a 10 km jogging/walking in vegetationally lush and hilly Mzuzu, taking in the sights and sounds, and then thinking to myself, ‘what a beautiful world’, to borrow a portion of Louis Armstrong’s lyrics.
I returned home and realised for the first time that the taps actually run in this household of one person and my host for the next few days, Chimwemwe Soko, Director of “Find Your Feet” Malawi (member of 1st Queen Elizabeth Scholarship cohort, 2018). Chims, as we affectionately call him, is the glue that held the 2018 QES cohort from Malawi together while they were in Ottawa for 4 months in Ottawa (the island if sanity, lol). Chims is outgoing, funny, smart, a community builder and a consensus builder par excellence.
After performing all my family constants on this first day in Mzuzu, Chims and I settled in his dining room to have our breakfast, my first breakfast in Malawi, with Mzuzu coffee taking centre stage. After breakfast, I returned to my room to map out my day.
Lunch with Dr. Singini and family
At noon on this first day, Dr. W. SINGINI, Director of Research (Mzuzu University) and co-PI, QE Scholarship) hosted a beautifully prepared home meal of fried rice, chicken and pumpkin leaves salad plus some bean stew (all thanks to Mrs. Singini). Desert featured unsweetened yogurt and apples with a tinge of whisky (my own concoction. All of the above was *washed down with Mzuzu tap water* (it is heart-warming to note that Mzuzu water can be directly consumed straight from the tap, and without boiling).
*Making plans, preparing to succeed:*
Between 14h30 and 15h00 I returned to Dr. Singini’s study for a strategizing meeting with Chims in attendance. The following were considered:
- Finalise questionnaire(s) by June 4, 2019.
- Identify interview sites by June 4, 2019.
- Identify and interview potential research assistants/interpreters by June 13, 2019
- Meet rep from the Centre of Excellence for Water Research (Dr. Singini to organize by June 4, 2019).
- Meet Prof. Chimwemwe Soko, Director of “Find Your Feet” Malawi to discuss a working relationship with FYF over the period.
- Identify a series of lectures/workshops to be given by A. Kusi-Appiah on the broad area of *”understanding informal water governance & health in periurban Malawi from a political ecology perspective*” over the research period. It is important to note that Dr. Paul Mkandawire has already had a preliminary discussion with the head of the department of Geography in Mzuzu University, and a plan of action with dates will be communicated to Andy on June 3, 2019.
Jack will never be a dull #waterboy
The strategy meeting ended at 15h00 and plans were immediately put together to visit Lake Malawi (46 km from Mzuzu) and just chill. Dr. Singini drove the contingent of three to the popular tourist destination and fun was had by all. I was impressed with the sheer magnificence of this huge lake that runs along the eastern border of Malawi. *Lake Malawi, is also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique. It is an African great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.* The lake’s volume is approximately 8,400 km3 (2,000 cu mi), and its average depth: 292 m (958 ft)
We mingled with our fellow tourists and played a few games of board soccer, and also participated in other planned activities at the beach. I also noticed how busy the place can be as it also served as the terminal for water transportation between the 3 countries. Chims, Wales and I returned to Mzuzu at about 20h35 and had a meal of fermented corn ‘fufu’, meat and vegetables specially prepared by the cousin of Chims.
It will be a huge understatement to consider my first day in Mzuzu as anything but wonderful. All the stars were aligned positively for a really huge & warm welcome with all the necessary condiments. It is indeed a *truism* that the greatest asset of Mzuzu (and there are many) is its people – they are friendly to a fault. This day will go down in the annals of this research period as one of the most memorable days of this field data collection trip.
On Sunday June 2, 2019, yours truly will follow Chims and Wales to church.
I can’t wait.